So today I tried a dairy free day because my digestion has been less than happy and things do seem to have improved. This makes me super sad because I LOVE cheese, cream sauces, ice cream, butter and sour cream.

I did try a coconut ice cream from the store that took a bit of getting used to, but I ended up enjoying it.

In the past I've tried lacaid without much success, so if this experiment continues to point to dairy, I will have to change my eating fairly dramatically. I am hoping some cheeses and the sour cream will still work, but it does seem that ice cream and whipped cream are out of the picture.

If it's not the lactose, you might try seeing if you can get dairy from pasture-raised grass-fed cows and see if that helps. Conventional dairy makes me really sick to my stomach, and I know a bunch of other people with the same problem.

One of the signs that would point to this is if you have worse problems with butter and cream than with skim milk or other low-fat options. Whatever it is that causes problems seems to be fat soluble.

even with (non-celiac) gluten issues, it's often just a matter of not eating it for 3-12 months, and letting your gut heal. It might not be forever, but it's probably for the summer.

Some suggest first reintroducing hard (more aged) cheeses and fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir, maybe sour cream) and then maybe try the fresher stuff. (If this works, it's probably all gut biome stuff, give them a few more years to figure what friendly gut bacteria you need to add to have fresh cream again.)

There are lots of ways to react poorly to dairy, alas. I find I react poorly to unfermented dairy if I haven't had any for a while, but it's mostly okay if I eat it in moderation reasonably regularly. I know folks who can have cheeses made with goat or sheep milk, but not cow's milk. I hope you find tasty options that work well for you.